Spring Management, 2012

BANV Refresher Course February 28, 2012

Jim and Pat Haskell

Well exchange thoughts on- What we do, and when, depends on your goal(s) for the year, ie:
Want as much honey as possible? Want some honey but also want to make some nucs and/or queens? None of the above! Just want to keep bees alive!

Early Spring Stimulation

Risks and Rewards

Reversing Swarm Control (in addition to reversing) Supering for Honey Other thoughts

The Delicate Balance Between Maximizing Honey and Minimizing Swarming

Bee #s

Major Honey Flow

May 1

July 1

Why the Delicate Balance?

To maximize honey production, need the highest possible number of foraging bees when the major honey flow starts
Too few foragers = less honey Too many too soon may = bees in trees

When to Start Colony Stimulation and/or Manipulations

Bee #s

Stimulation Reversing Swarm Management Time

Major Honey Flow

Start date is weather dependant

??

May 1

July 1

Start thinking stimulation when

Henbit/Deadnettle or Red Maple Bloom

Lots of Pollen coming in (2/23/12)

What pollen source?

Everything Else Being Equal (which it never is),

Early Feb continue to feed fondant Bottom open or closed? Mid Feb Stimulate or not?
Light (.5 : 1 or 1 : 1) sugar water Pollen patty

Late Feb Reverse

Bottom box to top position provided it does not split cluster, and the weather cooperates (more on this shortly)

Changeable weather can create problems

50 mph wind on Saturday destroyed many red maple blooms FEED POLLEN SUBSTITUTE ASAP!

Everything Else Being Equal ( continued)

Early March continue to feed March First warm day (above 60 degrees) do thorough inspection for diseases/pests
Mite drop? Medicate only when/if necessary More on pest management later

Equalize healthy colonies when necessary Rotate/reverse bodies again, if necessary, for swarm control or utilize the instinct to develop nucs

Everything Else Being Equal (continued)

March Ideal time to move hives Late March woodenware all ready? Early April continue monitor for swarm management
Isolate queen if necessary Artificial swarm (create nucs) CheckerboardingWalt Wright

Mid April requeen if necessary using cells

continued
In late April or May, do your spring splits if that is one of your goals;
For swarm control For an increase (nucs) for you or a new beekeeper For re-queening later

Swarming

the day your bees loose the instinct to swarm is the first day of their demise!
Tony Jadznek

WHAT IS SWARMING?
Natural reproduction of a colony Unlike solitary bees, swarming is the only way honey bees can reproduce naturally Beekeepers today say swarming is bad, so there must be something wrong with the bees

A hundred years ago, beekeepers would brag about how many swarms they had, and take it as a sign of healthy bees

What Happens Inside the Hive

Excess drones are produced Workers are placing nectar in the brood nest and it is not moved to honey storage (the brood nest appears to shrink) The queen is coaxed to lay eggs in a number of queen cups (always present in the hive). One of these new queens will head the mother colony The queen is fed less so she stops laying eggs and her weight is reduced The field bees do less work Many unemployed nurse bees too

Causes of Swarming
The literature, the web, and just about every beekeeper suggests there are about 10 to 15 causes of swarming; and nearly that many preventive cures ABC & XYZ of Bee Culture (1919 Edition), lists 12 causes and controls Runs the gamut from caging the queen, enlarging the entrance, providing shade, to eliminating useless drones More recently, honey bee experts Dewey Carron, Marion Ellis, among others---

--Suggest that
All these causes, reasons, and guesses can be reduced to about three major categories; and those are the ones well look at more closely

Causes of Swarming???
(1) Lack of Space in the brood nest
Is this the most important cause? Why? What?

(2) Queen age and/or something else

Important? How? Why? Solutions?

(3) Environmental
Primarily rainy, cold spring weather?

When to Start Your Swarm Management

Cause Lack of space in brood nest When to Start Normally Mid March, a few weeks after colony is stimulated The July previousso the colony can have a young queen in spring Prayers each morning and evening

Queen problems

Environmental

What to do when you find this?

Reversing
Dont do it too early and dont do it too late
before

Chill brood, inability of nurse bees to cover the scattered brood are symptoms of too early reversing Do not split the cluster when reversing
If too late, two-thirds of the bees may be in the trees Also great time to do your wax replacement!

A B C

C A B after

Correct Reversing
Brood nest (cluster) ends up in a single box (A or B), or Ends up split between box A and box B; but still contained as a complete cluster Also great time to do your wax replacement!

Correct Reversing
Brood nest (cluster) ends up in a single box (A or B), or Ends up split between box A and box B; but still contained as a complete cluster Also great time to do your wax replacement!

Incorrect Reversing
Brood nest (cluster) ends up in two different places: box C and B), such that Brood and nurse bees and food are separated too far during a critical survival period. Brood will die within a short time with low evening temperatures Still can do wax replacement

Checkerboarding/Nectar Management
by Walt Wright

Rearranging stores above the brood nest In CB/NM, frames are rearranged above the growing brood nest. The honey frames are alternated with frames of empty drawn comb. (Beginners will not have enough drawn comb to try this system.) It is believed that only colonies that perceive themselves to have enough reserves will attempt to swarm. CB/NM above the brood nest apparently destroys this sense of having reserves.

YOU WILL HAVE TO COME TO ANOTHER MIND SET TO TRY THIS ONE!

Checkerboarding(cont)
Bottom super is simply one frame of each, capped honey and honeycomb, alternated Top super is the same, EXCEPT, two capped honey on each side; to keep the checker - boarding

vertical
Honey supers

Demareeing
Essentially involves separating the queen from most of her brood Place queen in bottom brood chamber with a frame or two of capped brood

Queen excluder over that chamber

Box or two of empty comb over that

Remaining brood over that

Upper box must be checked for queen cells every 5-9 days

Demaree before & after

Find queen, set her aside temporarily 2 or 3 frames, mainly sealed in bottom box with queen Middle box is empty comb Top box is rest of brood Can add another box of comb and/or foundation if desired (not on top or bottom)
queen excluder
rest of brood and food
empty comb Queen 2 frames sealed rest is empty comb Some old honey, brood, few if any open combs Brood, food, few if any open combs
Probably old pollen, old comb, maybe some brood

before

after

HONEY FLOW NOTES:

1. When drawing out comb in a honey super, have 10 frames. 2. After comb has been drawn in a honey super, have 9 frames. (draw on 10, run on 9) 3. When trying to stretch out drawn comb in a honey super, put 3 frames of drawn comb, 3 frames of foundation, then 3 frames of drawn comb. (Rick Fell)

Notes: (cont)
4. Some members install a scale hive (or otherwise weigh their hives) to determine when nectar flow starts 5. Drawn comb is worth its weight in Gold! 6. Bees will not draw foundation into comb in the absence of a nectar flow. Feed 1:1 sugar syrup at this time 7. Always be ahead of your bees

From Georges Pink Pages

For beekeepers with drawn comb

1. As early as April 1st, add the first honey super WITHOUT a queen excluder. 2. Fourteen days later (make sure the queen is NOT in that first super), put a Queen Excluder under it, and add FOUR more supers of drawn comb ALL AT ONCE!

Empty drawn comb has a specific pheromone that encourages worker bees to fill it with honey.

From Georges Pink Pages

For beekeepers without drawn comb

1. Use 10 frames of foundation (pressed tightly together) in the first super. 2. Once this super has 6-8 frames of something (nectar, pollen, or brood), move the outer frames into the center, and add a Queen Excluder (make sure the queen is not up in this super). This super is now baited to draw workers up through the Queen Excluder.

Georges Pink Pages (cont)

3. After the first super is about 75% drawn out and cells filled with something, install the 2nd super of 10 frames, and when 6-8 frames are drawn and filled with nectar, then add the 3rd super. This is called Top Supering when the new Honey Super is added on top of the super already in place.

Bottom Supering
1. Put your 1st Honey Super with 10 frames tightly bound together on top of the hive without a Queen Excluder. You may wish to bait this super by moving a frame or two of Open Brood up replacing the center frames of foundation. 2. Once the bees start building out the comb in this super, put the frames of Open Brood back down into the brood chamber and move up the previously removed frames from the super.

Bottom Supering (cont)

3. Add a queen excluder under the 1st Honey Super. (Make sure the queen is not in this super). Once the 1st Honey super is 75% drawn out, move the undrawn comb from the edges into the center. Pick-up the 1st honey super and add a 2nd honey super UNDER the 1st Honey Super.

4.

5.

6.

Repeat until you have 3-4 supers drawn and filled with honey.

Bottom supering (Cont.)

This method of supering is called BOTTOM SUPERING. It is used best when you need drawn comb. It also may be used when you have a weak colony that you wish to collect honey from using drawn comb.

More pest management thoughts

Varroa Already mentioned mite drops & IPM Consider drone pulls also Small Hive Beetles Jamie Ellis note: attack at each life stage Eggs & Larva hygentic queens Pupa nematodes Adults in-hive trap

You cannot control the weather!

Hot
(Brood rearing)
Increase ventilation Supplement water

Cold

(Chilled brood or starvation)

(Starvation)

Reposition food

Drought

Supplement food and water

Wet (Chalkbrood, dysentery, meanness)

Increase ventilation

QUESTIONS?